The food budget is usually the easiest to manipulate. Let's list our most frugal meals and the recipes.

Maidrites:
Brown 1 lb ground beef with chopped onion and 1 can of chicken broth. Drain completely. Serve on buns with your favorite condiments.

Chicken breasts browned in skillet. Add cream of mushroom soup and heat through.

Breakfast items for supper----great way to get a meatless meal in the menu planning.

Baked potato bar

Sloppy joes
Brown 1 lb ground beef with chopped onion. Drain fat. Add a squrt of mustard, pinch of sugar or to taste, and enough ketchup to make it the consistency you want. Heat through and serve on buns.

Spaghetti and meatballs (great for leftovers)

Goulash

1 lb ground meat
elbow macaroni
diced tomatoes or rotel
seasonings

my kids love it!!

Spaghetti. Sometimes we just have the noodles, canned sauce, topped with mozerella cheese. Sometimes we add browned Italian sausage. Either way we make alot and dh eats it for lunch for several days.

Mac & hamburger. Just cooked macaroni, tomato juice, onion and browned hamburger.

Ziti. Hamburger, spaghetti sauce, cooked ziti noodles topped with mozerella and baked. Freezes well too!

Chili

Hot dogs and brats (I buy the big packs of brats and divide them up before we freeze.

Pancakes. I use big boxes of Bisquick at Sam's, very cheap!

Mac and Cheese and Chicken nuggets.

Sloppy joes

Hamburgers (I buy a huge box of frozen patties at Sams)

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~Happiness is a large family~

Pork chop dinner (brown pork chops in a little bit of oil, then add carrots, onions, & potatoes and enough beef stock to cover, simmer until everything is done)

Soups - chicken noodle or vegetable. We always have noodles and beans (I stock the pantry when they are on sale) so I just have to make chicken broth and add chicken and frozen veggies.

Spaghetti sauce - I make a big batch in the crockpot and freeze half of it. In fact I'm defrosting sauce so I can make lasagna this week.

Red beans over rice - with or without meat.

Make your own bean tacos - a great way to use up leftovers. Same goes with burritos or enchiladas.

Baked macaroni and cheese. I've stopped making Kraft Mac & Cheese. After lots of experimenting with different ways of making cheese sauce then adding elbow macaroni, I've come to the conclusion that baked mac n cheese is so much better.

Omelets with a side of homefries.

Top-your-own baked potatoes.

Chicken fried rice.

Homemade salmon or tuna patties with grilled side veggies and couscous.

Pancakes or waffles.

Soup - just about any soup recipe but especially lentil and split pea.

Baked ziti.

Spaghetti bolagnese or spaghetti prima vera.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

~Creamy Chicken Spaghetti~

2 cooked chicken breasts cut in bite size pcs. Pkg of spaghetti, cream of chicken can of soup. Toss together, heat thoroughly, sprinkle parmesan on top, serve! YUMMY!

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~@~ Carla ~@~

Pasta with a jar of sauce, or garlic and oil, or butter and grated cheese.
Black beans and rice.
Jiffy cornbread with pinto beans and cheese on top.
vegetable soup made with leftover odds and ends of veggies.
grilled cheese sandwiches.

tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

mac n cheese with hamburger

eggs night (made the way they want) side of toast, hashbrowns

hot dogs with a side of beans and mac salad

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Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

Spanish rice with a can of red sauce or enchilada sauce, topped with shredded cheese--one of my favorites, I add pieces of chicken breast on occasion.

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Heather

baked pork chops.
fry them in a little oil till brown, then put them into a baking pan
take one little can of tomato sause pour in a bowl add a spoonfull of sugar and a little water , stir it up
pour it over chops, then put a couple slices of onion on top and bake at 350 till chops are done.
DELISH and nice and tender!!
serve with mashed potatoes.

Baked steak, any kind of steak (I buy the semi cheep cuts)
in a bowl mix..
1 Cup grape jelly
1/4 cup A1 sause
and a package of dry onion soup mix
stir it up ( It looks nasty )
pour it over steaks and bake till done
It makes the steak sooo tender, and you dont taste the jelly at all. YUMM!!! I don't LIKE steak! But I will eat it cooked like this!
serve it with mash potatoes, baked potatoes, french fries.


Mac & cheese
I go to the deli and buy a mixed bag of cheese ends,all different kinds makes great mac & cheese!
Melt them all together and pour over cooked elbows pourbread crumbs on top and bake.


Breakfast sausage links, with mashed potatoes
and green beans with ranch dressing.. Drain a can of green beans , pour into a bowl, add Ranch dressing and stir it up, serve cold..
Emmy loves this meal!

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If you tell your secrets to the wind... Don't be mad if it tell's the trees.